The Best of the Fig Discussions
© Participating Suite101.com Fig Enthusiasts
Oct 1, 2001
A few years ago I published an article about figs, named
Growing Figs -- Beginner Style. Then a discussion was started to accompany the article. All kinds of information about fig growing started pouring in from around the world.
Now that the questions and answers within that discussion number more than 140, I think it's time to sort things out and make all this useful information more navigable.
PROPAGATION
_____MarcellaGM said: My brown turkey fig has been very easy to propagate, almost like a Buddlia, you just stick in some good dirt. Acually I use vermiculite and put the cuttings in my cool greenhouse.
Marcella is right. Figs are incredibly easy to propagate. Making each cutting quite long, including several growth nodes, and putting the cutting deep into potting mix, sandy soil or vermiculite will increase the chances of your cutting rooting. At home many gardeners use 1 gallon pots for fig cuttings, often striking a few per pot.
Most gardeners find that summer cuttings are best, although many books recommend early spring. For many of you in colder climates, you will have no wood to select from in early spring, your plants having died back to roots or a few stubs, so there, summer cuttings are again best. If you do them in early to mid-summer, you should have a plant that can be planted and overwintered by October.
Quite a few of the readers to the discussion complained of mislabelling of plants at the nurseries. Locating an excellent plant and propagating from that is a sure way to get what you want. Because figs seem to be difficult to locate in some areas, this is also often the only way to get a tree inexpensively and safely.
PRUNING
We had loads of questions on pruning in the fig discussion. Here I have copied my form answer to each of the pruning questions I received.
Most people say that figs resent pruning but I have seen otherwise. What you don't want to do is attempt to shorten already long branches, because they don't resprout from cut tips well. What you need to do it remove entire branches back to the main stem. Take the longest ones that are getting too tall. This will enourage new shoots from the base of the plant or near the bottom of the trunk. In effect, you are thinning as opposed to trimming or giving an 'overall haircut'.
The ideal size for fruiting on any kind of fig is about 3 to 5 metres (10 to 15 feet) tall. This is when they are at their prime. You can keep them smaller but don't try to keep them too small, as they will not develop the right kind of wood for mass production of fruit.
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I live in Scotland near to Glasgow. I have four fig trees. One Italian, one American ( From Calif.) two from U.K. We are helped in our climate by the gulf stream and I also have a cold greenhouse w ...
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My brown turkey is in its fifth year. It get bushy and beautiful each year but so far no fruit. I do know that it would only get one harvest in the fall here. Anybody else in Virginia or nearby pla ...
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I got this question via e-mail...Hi jojo, we have moved into an older home with a very large fig tree out front. the tree is beautiful but we do not like figs and the mess they create. how can ...
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Hi Dr. ParmarThanks so much for visiting. I've read in many places that the best time to take fig cuttings is when they are dormant. My experience has found the opposite. I wonder if perhaps i ...
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